Leigh
11.
First thing upon coming into the house you have to change into clean pants and wash your hands. (Guests were exempt from the pants rule but not handwashing). If you took your shoes off while you were out you had to change your socks as well.—IneffectivelyPerfect
12.
We weren’t allowed to get into the fridge or the cabinets without asking permission. My family was very poor and we had a limited food budget, so eating something without permission very possibly meant eating one ingredient of a meal my stepmother was planning on cooking within the next few days. I went to friends’ houses and they just ate whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.—BadHairGuy
13.
My mum used to pay me to be my own babysitter between the ages of 10-14 or so. The rule was that as long as I didn’t make a mess and I’d put myself to bed by the time she got home then I got $10 in the morning.—AnxiousJellyBean
14.
When a parent says your name you have to reply “coming” and not “yeah” because they’d ignore it. — TobbyLobby
15.
When I was sick I couldn’t be in my bed because it would make it dirty. My mom put a towel in a corner on the hardwood floor and I had to stay there until she deemed me better enough to use my bed.—ZenosParadox1
16.
My family had a thing we called the food blanket. When we’d eat casual meals, we’d lay a blanket on the living room floor and eat on it, like a picnic. My parents didn’t want to get any food on the carpet. Instead of “set the table,” my mom would say, “go lay out the blanket.” I remember being really confused when I learned every family didn’t have a food blanket.—LlamaLlama-duck
17.
My father never let us talk around the dinner table. Once when I was 15 I asked everyone around the table how they were doing and how their day was. My dad got up angrily after hurriedly finishing his meal and said: “I can’t stand people talking around a meal. If I wanted to talk to you I would.” We finished our meal in silence.—Morb2
18.
When I was really young I had a “night night bell”. It was this old clay bell(?) that hung in the kitchen, and when I had to go to bed I got to ring the bell and everyone would come to say goodnight and then I would go to bed. Not really a rule, but a weird little ritual in our house.—Motorbike-T
19.
I grew up with 6 siblings. In the TV room, there we more people than couch seats. We had a rule that you couldn’t steal someone’s seat if they got up to go to the bathroom, get a drink, etc.—Woltbosz
20.
I had SUPER laid back parents but there were a few certain things that they were randomly crazy strict about. No gum. No play doh. No cereal with sugar as one of the top 3 ingredients. No Simpsons. I had basically no rules growing up, but those four things would make them lose their goddamn minds. I still get anxious when I’m chewing gum and I’m 35.—SiFiWiRi
